A Glimpse of the Great Thousand World, Myriad Soul Banner? Human Emperor Banner!

Everything around him blurred, as if coated in oil paint,

the black grew blacker, the white whiter,

endless light filled Qing Luo's pupils, and everything around him became illusory as it rapidly receded.

As the light faded,

Qing Luo arrived in an unfamiliar region.

It was a vast, boundless world. As far as the eye could see lay an ancient forest with no visible end.

Within the forest stood thousand-foot trees, comparable to mountain peaks.

Herds of Spirit Beasts crossed the skies, their piercing cries echoing through heaven and earth.

In the even more distant reaches,

enormous Spirit Beasts could occasionally be seen fighting,

their earth-shaking roars carrying far into the distance.

It was like an abandoned land,

filled with an aura of primitiveness and mystery!

Buzz—

As Qing Luo surveyed his surroundings,

young figures, boys and girls as immature as himself, were transported into this world amid the flashing light of the Teleportation Array.

"So this is the Northern Cang Realm..."

Qing Luo sighed.

This was the region where Northern Cang Academy tested its new students. Every Northern Cang Realm seemed to be an abandoned world.

Its expanse was unimaginably vast,

and it accommodated hundreds of thousands of students.

It was said that there were four such testing grounds, four similar Northern Cang Realms in total...

It was simply beyond comparison to a remote place like the Northern Spirit Territory.

At the same time,

a majestic platform stretching a thousand feet appeared high in the skies of the entire Northern Cang Realm.

Shrouded in clouds and mist,

it was ethereal and mysterious, like an immortal realm.

As the enormous Thousand-Foot Platform appeared,

the young men and women who had been teleported here alongside Qing Luo quickly swept toward it.

In the blink of an eye,

the thousand-foot platform was packed with people and filled with bustling excitement.

As Qing Luo stepped onto the Thousand-Foot Platform,

he finally felt that he had merged into this world, catching a glimpse of the vast Great Thousand World.

Soon,

Qing Luo spotted a familiar figure.

Mu Chen noticed Qing Luo as well.

Just as Qing Luo was about to wave, Mu Chen's gaze narrowed, and he headed toward another area before disappearing into the crowd.

"Uh..."

That sight

made Qing Luo stop in his tracks.

"What a coincidence..."

Qing Luo chuckled softly.

He did not feel displeased by Mu Chen's distance.

Mu Chen had his pride. If their roles were reversed, Qing Luo did not think he could have done any better than Mu Chen.

However,

reality often refused to go as one wished.

Here, Qing Luo would show Mu Chen just how worthless his pride was!

Dong—

A melodious, ancient bell rang out.

At the center of the Thousand-Foot Platform, an inconspicuous stone stele suddenly erupted with dazzling light.

The light soared into the sky, projecting the figure of a white-haired, white-robed man upon the heavens.

It drew countless gazes.

"Little ones, welcome to Northern Cang Academy's testing ground!"

"This old man is one of the Inspectors of this realm's testing ground..."

For a moment,

the entire Northern Cang Realm fell utterly silent.

Most of the students who had been teleported here came from remote regions and knew nothing of the rules of this trial.

The old man before them

had clearly been arranged by Northern Cang Academy. He was the NPC here!

The aged figure looked at the crowd with a smile.

"This space is called the Northern Cang Realm, while the platform you stand upon is the Reception Platform!"

"There are over a hundred Reception Platforms like this throughout the Northern Cang Realm. The one you are currently on is merely one of them!"

"Furthermore, because there are too many people, there are four Northern Cang Realms like this in total. Of course, the other three Northern Cang Realms are currently undergoing the same test as you, but that has little to do with us." The elderly projection said with a smile.

Hiss—

As soon as those words were spoken,

a wave of astonished murmurs rose across the Thousand-Foot Platform.

Even Qing Luo could not help clicking his tongue in amazement.

The platform he stood on held more than ten thousand students, and there were a hundred similar Reception Platforms...

That meant

Northern Cang Academy alone had four million students qualified to come to the Northern Cang Realm for testing each year.

And this was only one of the Five Great Academies.

If the other four great Spirit Academies, as well as the remaining Spirit Academies, were included...

Just how terrifying would the total number of new students be?!

One had to know!

Blue Star's Dragon Country produced only a little over ten million university graduates each year!

At the same time,

in another part of the platform, Mu Chen's face also turned solemn as he listened to the old man.

"As expected of one of the Five Great Academies..."

"Perhaps only an environment like this can let me grow quickly and surpass that guy!"

Thinking of Qing Luo, who had also arrived here, Mu Chen's eyes surged with boundless fighting spirit.

He believed

that if the Spirit Road had not wasted more than half a year of his time, he absolutely would not have been weaker than Qing Luo.

But Mu Chen knew even better

that although he had not cultivated during those six-plus months on the Spirit Road, the growth it had brought him was equally important.

As long as he had enough time, he believed he would definitely catch up to Qing Luo.

He had promised that girl...

If I can't even surpass Qing Luo, what right do I have to stand by her side?!

"The Northern Cang Realm is extremely vast, containing all manner of dangerous lands and powerful Spirit Beasts. You must pass through these obstacles and reach Northern Cang Hall at the center of the Northern Cang Realm.

"There is a Teleportation Spirit Array there that leads to Northern Cang Academy. We will receive you there as well."

As everyone's thoughts churned, the old man continued,

"According to the rules, you will each come up and touch this stone stele first. You will then be assigned a rank. There are nine ranks in total.

"Students who have obtained ordinary quotas begin at Rank One. Those with Seed Quotas begin at Rank Three, while Core Quotas begin at Rank Five."

Upon hearing this,

many students near the stone stele hesitantly reached out to touch it.

As their palms touched the stone stele, streams of light rippled forth and eventually gathered upon their foreheads.

They formed their respective marks.

Apart from a scant few students who bore crimson-glowing "Three" marks,

most students only had dark yellow "One" marks on their foreheads.

Buzz—

As another crimson light burst forth,

everyone immediately turned their eyes toward the stone stele.

Standing before it was a young man in white robes, straight and upright as a spear.

The young man possessed an extraordinary bearing. Most eye-catching of all were his strange Double Pupils, like overlapping great stars...

Above those Double Pupils was a dark-red "Three" mark!

"Rank Three, another Seed Quota holder..."

"He's so handsome!"

"His eyes are so captivating, I'm melting!"

After Qing Luo revealed his identity as a Seed Quota holder, waves of envious voices echoed across the enormous Thousand-Foot Platform.

Many female students even regarded Qing Luo as their idol, gazing at him with adoring eyes.

"He really likes showing off..."

Listening to the envious voices around him and looking at that upright figure before the stone stele,

Mu Chen secretly clenched his fists, his tone rather helpless.

However,

Qing Luo ignored the students' envious gazes at that moment.

His attention was drawn to the illusory system reward before him.

[ Ding—Congratulations to the host for signing in at the Northern Cang Realm of Northern Cang Academy! ]

[ Reward obtained: Demonic Path supreme treasure, Myriad Soul Banner! ]

[ Myriad Soul Banner: An utmost fiendish treasure of the Demonic Path. Its pole is forged from ten-thousand-year Profound Yin Wood, ghost-path chains suspend the Soul Banner, and its Banner Surface resembles green silk dyed black with ink! ]

"Myriad Soul Banner, Human Emperor Banner!"

Looking at the hundred-foot-deep Soul Banner in the system reward, Qing Luo's lips curled upward slightly.